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The Defector
'' |image= |series= |production=40273-158 |producer(s)= |story= |script=Ronald D. Moore |director=Robert Scheerer |imdbref=tt0708792 |guests= |previous_production=The Vengeance Factor |next_production=The Hunted |episode=TNG C10 |airdate=1 January 1990 |previous_release=The Vengeance Factor |next_release=The Hunted |story_date(s)=Stardate 43462.5 |previous_story=The Vengeance Factor |next_story=The Hunted }} =Summary= The episode begins with Data exploring the human condition through acting in a Shakespearean play. Captain Picard is giving Data some constructive criticism when he is notified by Commander Riker that a Romulan scout vessel is being pursued in the Neutral Zone. The scout vessel is under attack by a Romulan war bird, and they are approaching Federation space. The Enterprise moves to intercept the ship, causing the Warbird to cloak and return to Romulan space. The occupant of the ship is brought aboard the Enterprise, and claims he is Sub-Lieutenant Setal, an insignificant logistics clerk seeking to defect to the Federation after coming across information about a secret Romulan installation on the planet Nelvana III, within the Neutral Zone, that could sustain a large Romulan fleet. Picard and his crew remain skeptical of Setal's claims when he refuses to provide them with any more evidence, and Picard orders an investigation of Setal's reliability while the Federation relays to the Enterprise that the Romulans are seeking Setal's return. When Setal's ship auto-destructs, the crew is forced to review the records of Setal's arrival, and believe that the Romulans arranged Setal as part of an elaborate hoax. Picard refuses to enter the Neutral Zone on the baseless claims. Setal confides to Data that his defection came at a heavy price, that he will never be able to see Romulus or his family again; Data attempts to alleviate Setal's feelings by taking him to a holodeck representation of Romulus. Setal dismisses the hologram and reveals that he is actually Admiral Jarok, a high-ranking officer who previously had led a vicious campaign against several Federation outposts near the Neutral Zone. Jarok again beseeches Picard to investigate Nelvana III, but Picard refuses, and demands either Jarok provide the full information or he will be damned as a traitor. Jarok gives in to Picard's request, and gives detailed tactical information to Picard. Picard orders the Enterprise to Nelvana III. When they arrive, the crew finds the planet completely barren with no evidence of any installation, to Jarok's surprise. Unexpectedly, two Romulan war birds uncloak and fire upon the Enterprise. Picard realizes that Jarok was used as a pawn by the Romulans, feeding him disinformation to lure the Federation into the Neutral Zone and at the same time disgrace Jarok. Picard had already taken precautions for this possibility as three Birds of Prey, sent by the Klingons by Worf (at the recommendation of Picard), de-cloak and trap the Warbirds. The Enterprise is allowed to leave the Neutral Zone without incident. As they leave the Neutral Zone, the crew finds that Jarok has committed suicide leaving behind a note for his family, and Picard comments on Jarok's strength of conviction for change to end the Federation-Romulan conflict as the episode closes. =Errors and Explanations= Nit Central # Padawan Nitpicker on Saturday, November 11, 2000 - 1:03 pm: Why does Picard order Riker to take them away from Nervana III instead of the helmsman? JeffKardde on Thursday, April 12, 2001 - 1:17 pm: Riker's the XO. Picard gives the orders, Riker executes them. Besides, Riker had asked before the two Romulans decloacked for permission to withdraw from the NZ. ' # ''Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Sunday, July 22, 2001 - 2:19 am: Picard refers to General Custer as a countryman of Riker's, but 24th century Earth is a United World and, I would think that, individual countries like the United States of America would exist only in the history books. Of course, Picard could have meant the term loosely, but it seemed like sloppy speaking. LUIGI NOVI on Monday, July 23, 2001 - 12:26 am: But on such a united Earth, you'd still need individual governors for each province or area, wouldn't you? And you'd need divisions for each governor, right? True, I admit it might not be logical to give one governor an area the size of the former Russia, and another size of San Marino, but it would stand to reason that humans might choose to maintain the old political map lines, not to maintain individual sovereignty, but simply because they're used to them? The old political systems might have fallen in the post WWIII era, but the languages, histories and cultures unique to each area might be something that people would want to preserve, wouldn't it? To do this, governors might be given equal-sized areas, but the larger areas (the former countries) might be preserved by overseers, perhaps with cultural and historic preservation in mind.' # Why doesn't Starfleet have ships patrolling the Federation side of the Neutral Zone? The Federation was at war with these people and they have crossed the border innumerable times. On Earth when two warring nations establish a boundary, both sides have troops stationed on either side to try and prevent illegal crossings. What does the Federation have? The Enterprise and a couple of rinky dink little outposts. In reality those outposts would be armed to the teeth and there would be fleets of ships patrolling the border and using the best sensors gold-pressed latinum could buy. In the Star Trek universe Federation Outposts apparently have no weapons and their sensors must not be that good because in the episode The Neutral Zone they couldn't even pick up the Borg ships which attacked them. (If you were on a border outpost and you picked up a strange ship approaching wouldn't you inform Starfleet?) '''Mounting standing patrols would be too aggressive, and divert a lot of resources that could be used for diplomacy and scientific research.' # Stuart on Friday, April 05, 2002 - 5:51 pm: Admiral Jarok states in this episode that he has defected to Earth to enable his child to be able to live without fear of war. Does Jarok seriously expect that the Tal Shiar will allow his family to live after he commits (in Romulan eyes) a serious act of treason? Remember that treason on Romulus is punished by death of family members. LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, April 06, 2002 - 10:42 am: Personally, though, I think they might've used his family as leverage to get him back (Much as was purportedly done to some German scientists living out of Germany, as depicted in the movie The Rocket Post), but that after his death, they probably released them, or maybe gave them the choice of renouncing Jarok as a traitor on TV or going to prison/being executed. For all we know, maybe his family are all loyalists, regard his as a traitor, and did this willingly. # Sophie on Thursday, October 24, 2002 - 6:38 am: Isn't it odd that Picard is so enthusiastic about Henry V? Picard's supposed to be French, and Henry V is blatant propaganda about an English invasion and occupation of France which, in the words of one historian, did much to anticipate the Nazi attrocities of the 2nd World War occupation. As a scholar, Picard would know that. As a diplomat, Picard is interested in looking at the events of the play from an English perspective. # John A. Lang on Sunday, December 29, 2002 - 7:44 am: At the end of the episode, Data says it would be impossible to deliver the letter that Jarok wrote. Why not give it to the ROMULAN AMBASSADOR? I'm sure he/she could arrange it. '' LUIGI NOVI on Sunday, December 29, 2002 - 5:56 pm:'' John, it's never been established that there is one. Diplomats are exchanged when there are formal relations between two powers. If there is no formal relationship between the Federation and Romulus—which isn't unlikely, given the sporadic tensions between the two seen during the series' run—then there probably aren't ambassadors. =Sources= Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation